1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is generally directed to children's car seats, and more particularly to a safety seat harness system that can be height adjusted without having to undo and rethread the harness belts or straps.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical car seat or child safety seat has a seat shell and a harness system. The harness system typically has a pair of shoulder straps, a portion of which extend over the shoulders and downward over the chest of the seat occupant and latch to a buckle on a crotch strap. These types of seats are often configured to accommodate children of different size or to accommodate a growing child. A larger child requires a higher shoulder strap position than a smaller child seated at seat.
Conventional car seats of this type have employed a plurality of slots formed in the seat back of the shell. The shoulder straps can be threaded through a lower pair of the slots for a smaller child. As the child grows, the harness system must typically be undone from the seat shell and then rethreaded through a different, higher positioned pair of slots to adjust or raise the shoulder strap height.
Some manufacturers have tried to address the problem of having to undo and rethread a harness system on a car seat. One manufacturer has produced a seat with a harness that is routed over a rod on the back side of the seat back. In order to adjust the shoulder strap height, the rod is manually disengaged from the seat, moved to a different position, and then reengaged with the seat. Another manufacturer has produced a similar seat except that the harness routing rod is disengaged from the seat shell when the headrest is moved and moves as the headrest height position is adjusted. Yet another manufacturer has attached the harness straps to a trolley on the seat shell. Cords are employed to hold the trolley in place at a selected shoulder strap height. Elaborate or complex latching mechanisms are typically required to secure the above-mentioned types of height adjustment devices and solutions. Such solutions thus typically increase the cost and complexity of such car seats or safety seats.